The Lion King: Intertwining Paths
by kP'94
Summary: Princess Nala couldn't seem to make any friends, until she meets her equal who is willing to face all the coming challenges of life by her side. See a quite different approach on a classic 'reversed-situation' story. SxN
1. Prologue: The Biggest Gift

**Hello everybody and welcome to my story! **

**After I stumbled over "The Lion King" way more than ten years since I first watched it, I promptly fell in love again and slowly but surely, some ideas for an alternate storyline formed in my mind. I'll leave it now up to you to either criticize or praise (maybe even both?) the outcome of my thinking and I hope that you'll enjoy this first little chapter at least as much as I enjoyed writing it! **

**Special thanks to Nala-Nay at that point for helping me with everything that needed to be corrected, deleted, changed or added. You are great. :)**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own "The Lion King" or one of its characters and I most certainly never will.**

* * *

_**Prologue: The Biggest Gift**_

It was a beautiful early afternoon in the Pridelands when Mufasa, the mighty king with the golden fur and scarlet mane, finished the first part of his usual border patrol, and made his way back to Priderock.

Well, to tell the truth, it was a rather regular day in spring, nothing really special about it. The sky was not bluer than usual and the sun did not shine any brighter than any other day this year.

But still, "something" had happened only a few days ago and exactly this little "something" made Mufasa think that every day since then had been even more beautiful than the last one.

Sarabi, his former best friend and present life mate had given birth to a beautiful small lioness with the light tan-colored fur of her mother and eyes as blue as he had only seen them on his grandmother during some rare occasions in his youth.

That was the very reason why they had named her after the long-passed queen: Nala…, Princess Nala of the Pridelands, as her official title would be.

As Mufasa walked towards the den, he felt a little bit saddened regardless. Sure, he loved his little cub with every fiber of his heart, but she was female after all… – not that he thought that male cubs had a bigger value, no, in his pride, lions and lionesses held themselves as complete equals… well… as he let his mind wander back to several occasions during his relationship with Sarabi, he even had to admit that females were in charge most of the time…

However, as he thought about it, he could have blamed his tingle of sadness just as well on him being male - the point was only and alone that he wouldn't ever get the chance to teach Nala about the wisdom of the kings that was passed from generation to generation and that once had been given to him by his father.

No, Sarabi would teach little Nala what being a princess meant and the reason was simple: Lionesses did not need to know how to patrol borders, or fight other rivaling predators. Guaranteeing the security of the pride was and had always been a lion's task whereas nature intended the females to be the better hunters and, in most cases, the better caretakers for their offspring.

The fact that there wouldn't be a chance to ever get a second cub did not ease the small pain in Mufasa's heart though, but he and Sarabi had decided to only have one cub in order to prevent jealousy and rivalry between the siblings. A decision his parents had made as well.

Not too long ago, the leader of a herd of wandering Gnus told Mufasa's major domo, Zazu, about a lion from another pride - Scar was his name – that had tried to kill his slightly older twin and family only to ascend the throne. His plan, however, failed and the king, a very wise leader whose name he had unfortunately forgotten, banished Scar from his lands instead of killing him.

It had sent a cold shiver down the king's spine as he had thought about his two children – both of his very own blood – going for each other's throats for nothing but power and after a long talk with his mate, the queen had declared to visit the shaman of the pride, Rafiki, as soon as she had fully recovered from giving birth to Nala. They had already spoken to him and he had assured them to know a way to solve their little problem without affecting anything about their love life.

As Mufasa finally entered the den and saw his mate lying on their usual royal spot, their daughter peacefully snuggled up into her paws, he still could not help but smile.

With every step he took towards his little family, all his worries seemed to melt away a bit further until he stepped onto the low platform and laid himself down next to Sarabi, nuzzling her lovingly with not a single troubling thought left.

The bigger parts of parenting might be in the paws of his beautiful mate, but that would not stop him the slightest from ripping every male that came too close to his little sweetheart into tiny shreds!

After making this decision as final as the circle of life was, he finally started to speak with his deep but gentle voice: "And how are my favorite two girls today?"

He leaned closer towards Nala who had woken up only minutes before Mufasa arrived, giggling happily as her father carefully nuzzled her belly with his snout.

She sure was a bundle of energy and he secretly reasoned that this could get him quite a headache when she grew older.

"Your two girls are just fine, Mufasa." Sarabi replied with a content sigh "Little Nala here grows stronger every day. I'm sure she will be ready by tomorrow to go for her first walk."

Mufasa lifted his head up again, successfully hiding the mischievous twinkle in his auburn eyes by shooting his mate one of his charming smiles.

"That is without doubt wonderful… but nonetheless; I have to kindly remind my queen that she just forgot the 'favorite' in 'favorite two girls'…"

Sarabi looked at her love for a moment, puzzled – but as the light dawned, she grinned widely and started to nuzzle under Mufasas chin.

"Oh, how rude of her…", she answered innocently and licked his cheek "… how could she dare!"

The mighty king chuckled deeply, as he nuzzled his mate back, savoring the feeling of her soft fur rubbing against his own.

He wished he could stay there and go on like this for the rest of the day, but sadly, he was the only male in his pride and the western borders still needed to be checked.

Oh, Mufasa had not the slightest idea of _whose _path he would cross, as he resumed his patrol…

* * *

Out there in the savannah stumbling slowly through the grass, was a lioness that had way too much problems to recognize the beauty of this afternoon.

She had been walking for nearly a week straight – no food and almost no water had been consumed. Her feet were sore and heavy and she did not know where she was going.

As if this was not enough, the poor lioness that must have had a beautiful dark golden coat under all that dirt covering her, was highly pregnant – already two weeks past the assumed day of birth, to be precise.

Oh, how she ached to rest… only for a couple of minutes – these where the thoughts running through her mind again and again, but she kept going… kept walking for her unborn child, holding tightly to the last bit of hope that was beginning to slowly fade inside of her.

She made three more shaky steps before her weak legs finally gave in, making her fall into the dusty dirt - face first.

She felt no pain though, but what she did feel were her eyelids drooping ever so often – begging for a little sleep; promising comfort and safety.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she realized that there was no hope left… that she had failed her cub… that she would die out here… _alone_…

But the last thing she saw was not the burning sun – it was a big shadow and two auburn-rimmed eyes glancing down on her worriedly.

She mobilized the last bit of strength and everything the once proud lioness was able to whisper, was a single and weak "help".

* * *

Mufasa was highly alarmed as he saw a silhouette collapsing into the high savannah grass not too far away from his position and without even hesitating, he rushed towards it.

As definitely as this was a lioness lying here in front of him, barely alive, she did not belong to his pride, because he surely had not seen a coat like this for a very long time.

He shook his head to get rid of these distracting thoughts - now was not the time to think about furs: This obviously pregnant lioness just had whispered a trembling "help" and the king knew that she needed nothing less.

He quickly lifted her now unconscious body onto his back and started to run back towards Priderock, trying to go fast and gentle at the same time to enhance the chances of survival for his new found cargo just a little bit.

At least the luck was on his side as he finally arrived at the entrance of the den, because the lionesses had already returned from their hunting session.

He laid the lifeless body of the outcast down onto the ground and ordered some of his subjects loudly to go and get Rafiki; others should check the western border for any enemies that might have followed the stranger into the Pridelands.

It did not take long for the old baboon to arrive, but Mufasa had spent this short time pacing in circles under the worried glances of Sarabi nonetheless.

Letting the member of a foreign pride, a pregnant lioness even, die on his lands, could eventually end in a war and that was to avoid at all costs!

After Rafiki had finished his examination, he turned to Mufasa, a very serious expression on his face.

"The lioness is very weak indeed…", he began hesitantly. "I fear that…" – he sighed sadly, gripping his wooden stick tighter. "…I fear that I can only save either the cub or its mother…".

Even though the den was filled with lionesses, these few words caused a deadly silence that was only interrupted by some quiet coughs.

"My cub…" – It was the foreign lioness that spoke "… save my cub… n-no discussion… I have nothing left anyways… r-raise it…"

Mufasa shot a pleading yet somehow authoritarian glance at his subjects, which instantly left the cave, knowing that their presence would not do anything but disturb.

In the end, only Mufasa, Sarabi, Rafiki, Nala and the lioness, of course, were left in the den.

The queen of the Pridelands carefully settled her sleeping princess onto the ground and made a few steps towards the fading female.

"What do you mean with 'nothing left anyways'…?", she asked softly "… you must belong to a pride at some point…".

The outcast shook her head merely noticeable.

"Not any… more…", she whispered, a few tears escaping her eyes "… please… you wouldn't choose… your life over… over the life of your cub, would you…?"

Sarabi did not answer but looked at her mate and quickly nuzzled into his mane to hide the tears she was about to spill as well.

"Who…", Mufasa finally murmured with his eyes downcast, his decision already made "… who am I to deny a mother's last wish…?"

He looked at Rafiki and nodded his head slightly – giving the baboon his permission to begin whatever was necessary to save the unborn child.

"Thank… you, your majesty...", breathed the outcast only seconds before her head fell back – unconsciousness taking her again.

As Sarabi had recovered from her little outburst, she shot one last sorry glance at the lioness, before walking back to the still soundly sleeping Nala, mumbling the words: "I don't want her to wake up to this…", as she picked her up and hesitantly walked towards the mouth of the den.

Mufasa only looked at her with a genuine expression of love and understanding, fully aware that neither Nala nor Sarabi needed to be attendant right now…

It took Rafiki hours to help the lioness give birth to her child and the mighty king didn't even know what the shaman was doing most of the time, but mostly because he didn't dare to take a look.

Mufasa only remembered that the baboon had called for a lioness once or twice, ordering her to get some specific herbals or to fill a strange-looking basked made of leaves with water to wash all the blood away.

In the end, however, all those troubles and pain-filled roars had not been in vain, because there, in the paws of the shallow breathing mother, laid a small bundle, its eyes still closed.

"It is a boy…", Rafiki finally said with a sad smile on his face and the foreign lioness shed more tears.

"A… boy…? T-then… Simba shall be his name…", she stated weakly and softly licked the top of the young lions head, causing a light mew.

"You are… going to b-be a mighty lion, you hear?", she sniffled and laid her head next to her paws, showing that the last bit of energy inside her was gone.

"My little Simba… y-you look so much like your daddy…", she whispered "… he would be s-so proud…"

The lioness opened her eyes one last time and looked at Mufasa, staring right into his soul with her pleading gaze.

"P-please… find him a loving mother… take care of him… h-he will have no one left when I am gone…", she begged with an almost inaudible voice.

Mufasa looked at the little golden bundle in the lionesses' paws and sighed with watery eyes.

Besides all the moral aspects he would fail if he denied her request, the king also knew that he was growing older as well and that the possibility of a second male in the pride who could help him patrol the borders in the near future would be more of a blessing than a curse.

"You have my word as king of the Pridelands.", was what he choked out and now even he could not hide the fact that he was deeply touched by the passing female he found only so recently ago.

The outcast smiled a small smile – probably the first one since weeks – and looked back at her sleeping son, peace finally settling over her face.

"Farewell, my Simba…", she sniveled with a fainting voice"… keep the ones you love close to you for that a life without them is hardly bearable… and… and always r-remember that I will… watch over you… wherever… you… may… go…."

With one last breath leaving her lungs, the outcast's eyelids finally dropped… forever.

She had given the biggest present a mother could make: Her live for her cub's….

Rafiki walked up to the lifeless body and touched it on various spots to check for a pulse.

After some short seconds he shook his head slightly and wiped his eyes with one hand, before he turned to the sleeping cub and picked it up carefully, freeing it out of its dead mother's embrace.

The baboon placed Simba in Mufasa's lap and patted the king's shoulder sympathetically.

"You should go find a mother for him…", Rafiki suggested gently, before leaving the den with slow steps.

Simba immediately snuggled closer to the king's paws, needing the warmth they were providing him. He was just a helpless cub as his Nala was… but without parents… without anyone.

Mufasa did not know what to do – he couldn't adopt the child himself – rivalry was a too high risk to take - but on the other hand side, he also had to keep his promise as king.

"Mufasa?" – it was Sarabi's soft voice ringing in his ears like a beautiful melody, promising a solution to all his problems.

The queen walked up to her mate, a curious looking Nala peeking over her head.

"Oh, kings…", she whispered, as she saw the motionless body of the outcast and quickly turned away to safe her daughter from the disturbing images.

Instead, she looked down to the golden bundle in her love's paws and somehow, a smile crept onto her face.

"What to do with him?", Mufasa asked, suddenly very undetermined.

"I know something…", his mate replied slowly, a knowing look in her eyes as she straightened up.

"Sarafina?", Sarabi shouted and that was enough for her husband to get her idea.

Sarafina was one of his mate's closest friends, born in the same summer and apart from her blue eyes and her slightly lighter fur, she even looked almost the same as the queen.

Mufasa did not know too much about her, but what he did know was that she was a skilled huntress and would often be described as kind-hearted beyond words.

Furthermore, she had always wished for a cub and had been nearly devastated after Rafiki had told her that her wish would most certainly never come true – until today.

"Yes, Sarabi?", her quiet voice finally rang out as Sarafina entered the den.

Her face fell quickly, as she realized that the lioness lying in front of her was definitely dead.

"She really did not make it…", she stated with a lowered head.

"No…", Sarabi answered and put a paw onto her friends shoulder "… but her cub did."

The young lioness's mood slightly lightened with those words and her glance fell onto the cub in Mufasas paws.

"His name is Simba…", the king explained and invited Sarafina with a nod of his head to come closer.

"What a lovely name…", she replied as she looked at the small lion in awe – little did she know, that the royal couple intended her to adopt him.

"What a pretty coat he has… almost… royal…", Sarafina went on and really was right with her statement: Simba's coat was as golden as Mufasa's – a tingle lighter maybe – and that was highly uncommon in this pride.

"Aye…", Sarabi agreed whereas the mighty king carefully picked Simba up to place him in Sarafina's paws, who did not complain at all.

"… He really needs a mother, you know… and we can't take him in because of our little sunshine up here…"

The queen's friend needed a few moments to get the hint, but finally stammered: "W-what? Y-you want me to…? I-I…?"

"We want you to be the mother our new little Pridelander needs right now…", Sarabi confirmed and smiled warmly.

Sarafina emitted a mixture between a cough and a laugh as she returned the smile and unconsciously tightened her grip around the cub in her arms a bit.

"A… a mother…? Me…? A-are you serious…?", she asked in disbelieve and beamed at the royal couple as they nodded in unison – along with a unwilling Nala, who was still sitting on her mother's head, gripping the fur under her paws fiercely to not fall off.

Sarafina lovingly nuzzled her new son's belly, being rewarded with a comfy purr from him.

"I am going to be the best mommy you could imagine, my little one…!", she promised in a whisper and on the verge of crying. "Oh, I love you already…!"

And with that, a new era in the history of the Pridelands begun…

* * *

**That's it for today! I hope you liked it. Feel free to tell me what you think and always keep in mind: Reviews are an author's bread. We feed on them and we starve without them – we can even upset our stomach with bad ones. ;)**

**Sincerely,**

**kP**

**Random fact of the day:**** The average male lion can sleep up to twenty hours a day. Now, that's my boy! :o**


	2. Chapter 1: Acquaintances

**Heeeello everybody!**

**It's me again and I'm ready to present: More fruits of my labor! Ha! Guess I simply couldn't hold it back any longer after all of your kind words of motivation! Thanks a lot for that! **

**I can't promise that chapter 2 will be posted as fast as this one though... I have a lot of things to handle during the next week and yeah... always keep in mind that I will finish this piece of work, no matter what.**

**To Milamber: My story will cover both of our favorite lions' lifes as cubs and as young adults. That's a promise. ;)**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to tell me what you think about it!**

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Acquaintances**_

Nala emitted an exhausted snort as she walked away from the waterhole near Pride Rock. When she reached a nearby tree, she slumped down in its shadow and curled up into a ball, preparing herself for a nap to pass the time.

The young princess had spent the whole last week trying to build up a friendship with one of the other cubs, but somehow had failed miserably.

"How hard can it possibly be to make a friend?" She grumbled to herself and sighed with resignation. She slowly closed her eyes, hiding her sea-blue orbs behind furry eyebrows, but sleep never came. No matter how hard she tried, Nala couldn't get rid of the thoughts about the few other young lionesses.

The point wasn't that they had been mean or anything, but on the contrary! Whenever she found one of the cubs - she indeed had to find them because they seemed to be hiding from her - they would be ridiculously kind, always anxious about not saying anything that could offend Nala somehow.

At the beginning, she had imagined that the cubs were that reluctant because she was the princess after all, and that things would soon get better if they only got to know each other properly, but that idea had been proven wrong after Nala's father had showed up one time to come check on her. At first, the young lioness had fought back a few giggles as she had seen the eyes of the other cubs go wider than even possible, but she had quickly realized that the reason for that wasn't just admiration or respect, but sheer fear. They were totally terrified of Mufasa!

As Nala lay there under the tree, she frantically tried to figure out what made her father so scary. Sure, he was all big and mighty, but he neither yelled nor swore at any point. He treated all of the other grown lionesses like family and as long as there were no reports of hyenas creeping through the Pridelands, he wore a friendly smile on his face. He had a gentle voice, although pretty loud at times, and Nala could tell that he was one who would never deny cuddling with her or her mother. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to find _anything_ scary about her dad and that made her even more depressed.

Whilst sunken deep into her thoughts, Nala didn't realize that another cub was standing right behind her by now, glancing down on her quizzically.

Only a loud cough accompanied by a more or less friendly "excuse me?" finally ripped the princess out of her reasoning.

"What?" She snarled back with her eyes still shut, clearly annoyed by the disturbance.

Nala waited for a response, but only heard someone mutter something under his breath that suspiciously sounded like a "… what a grumpy kitty…", before trying to cover it up with the clearing of his throat.

She immediately jumped to her feet and turned towards the voice, an angry growl leaving her maw.

Even though she didn't show it, the young female was slightly taken aback as the bold disturber turned out to be a male lion about her age with bright golden fur, a peach-colored belly and a small scarlet tuft at the end of his tail.

Oh, she wanted to yell at him so badly, to tell him who he was talking to, but something prevented her from such a thing and, surprisingly that wasn't only the fact that her status had scared away all of her other potential friends before.

She was somehow caught by the smile of the male, that wide smile that tried to look innocent but simply wouldn't. It almost seemed to be promising… _fun_.

Nala narrowed her eyes and decided to play a little game with her new acquaintance.

"What did you say?" She asked with a sharp voice and the wannabe 'innocent' smile of her opponent widened even more.

"Um… nothing at all…" The golden cub lied without even blushing "Look, I don't want to sound fussy or something, but that spot you are lying on… well… is _mine_."

_I bet it is…_ Nala thought to herself and a grin crept onto her face as she laid back down exactly where she was lying before, her head held high.

"Oh, really?" She finally asked, her voice nearly dripping with sarcasm, "Since when?"

"Since this morning." The cub answered boldly and the princess had a hard time to keep her unimpressed mask on. She really hadn't expected _such_ a kind of honesty.

"That's too bad for you, I rather like this spot here and I don't think that I'll leave anytime soon…", she managed to state unfazed, making herself demonstratively comfortable again.

"But if it's so important to you," Nala added while grinning mischievously, "I'm sure you could challenge me for it."

* * *

Simba couldn't deny that he was pretty impressed by the lioness's persistence. Compared with all the other females he had met recently, she definitely had some guts, and that made her pretty… interesting. However, he wasn't one to give up his spot so easily. She wanted him to challenge her and that he would do, but not before he had teased her a bit further.

"My mother told me that I shouldn't hurt a girl on purpose, no matter how conceited they are, and being the well-behaved cub that I am, it would rudely go against my treasured moral values to oblige your request for that matter." Was what he responded with a 'matter-of-fact' voice and he was sure that he had her now. Oh, how wrong he was.

"I'm sure your mother only wanted to protect you from a girl's temper... it is quite obvious that you most likely couldn't handle it." The lioness shot back cockily while inspecting the unsheathed claws of one of her fore-paws.

_Touché. _Was the only thing Simba could think of as he licked his dry lips, searching for something smooth to reply.

He felt that the female cub was eyeing him and that she had a clearly satisfied expression set on her face, satisfied because she knew she had trapped him.  
"Come on, try me." She taunted him, "I won't bite you…too hard."

"Well spoken…" Simba mumbled and crouched down into a pouncing position "Let's see if your teeth are as sharp as your tongue is!"

And with that he leaped at the female, making them roll through the low grass in a ball of limbs, heads and tails.

"Now, what… happened to… your 'treasured moral values?" The girl panted eventually, both cubs still trying to gain the upper hand in their little play fight.

"You crushed them when you laid down in my spot!" Simba answered between quick breaths as they separated for a moment, circling each other estimating.

After some two rounds, the young lion thought that he had found a little gap in his opponents cover and rushed towards it with full force. Unfortunately, the lioness seemed to be pretty quick in reacting, and with almost no effort, she was able to use his speed and weight against him, rolling him over onto his back and pinning him down with a lout 'thud', her paws on his chest.

Simba tried to free himself instantly, but soon had to concede that he was immobile under her and that he indeed had just lost a fight against a girl.

"What a lovely view…" The lioness mocked "I can almost see your confidence shattering into thousands of pieces from up here."

"Very funny." Simba grumbled, clearly embarrassed. The female giggled and enjoyed her victory for a few more moments until she got off him, without helping him back onto his feet.

As she turned her back on him, heading towards the tree to claim her freshly gained spot in the cool shade, Simba sensed a chance of revenge, even though it was a bit backstabbing.

He crouched down again, eyes narrowed, and with his most powerful… well... mew, he leaped at the supposedly unknowing cub once more. It soon turned out that she wasn't as unsuspecting as he expected her to be and thus it was that she easily avoided his attack with a small step to her right, making him crash onto a sandy spot, his face taking most of the fall.

Simba coughed and groaned in pain as he tried to get back onto his feet whereas the girl lay on her back, holding her belly with laughter.

"You… trapped m…- achoo!" - His wannabe-reproachful statement was interrupted by a huge sneeze that even made him emit a little dusty cloud from his nose, making his opponent laugh even harder.

At that point, Simba couldn't hold back a small grin of himself either.

"O-only…" The creamy colored lioness still giggled, tears brimming in her eyes "Only because you decided to be such a sore loser."

"I guess I did…" The young golden lion cub admitted with a downcast gaze as he slowly swallowed the last remains of his pride, "You fought pretty well though… for a _girl_." The female, still lying on the ground, rolled her eyes at that statement.

"Wow. Thanks. You're such a charmer." She replied sarcastically.

Simba slowly walked up to her, his famous 'not-so-innocent' smile appearing once more as he offered her a paw.

"You can call me Simba." He stated with a wink and the lioness hesitated only a short moment until she accepted his offer, returning a small smile of hers.

"Nala." She replied quietly as she stood upright again and Simba's eyes slightly widened, however, he could sense that his opponent seemed to be very uncomfortable with his new little revelation.

"You mean… like… Princess Nala?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No!" Nala yelled, making Simba flinch from her sudden outburst. She instantly calmed down again, sighing sadly.

"Just… Nala. Don't call me like that." She pleaded, her voice trembling slightly.

_Looks like she already had a hard time with being princess and all…_, the golden cub reasoned with himself, considering the fact that he had found her all alone under his… well… now _her_ tree whereas all the other lionesses he knew always kept their little group around them. However, after he had successfully banished the few pictures of a certain huge golden king, trying to eat him alive, from his mind, he came to the decision that he didn't care at all if Nala was royalty or not. He had a fun time with her and for him that was all that mattered.

So, being the taunting cub he was, he bowed as low as possible to Nala, speaking in the most formal voice he could muster, "Why, if your highness insists, I shall do my best to bridle that tongue of mine…"

Oh, Simba was sure that he would have died a thousand deaths if looks could kill.

"I'm going to get you back for that." Nala snarled as she prepared to tackle him and the golden cub was not the one to waste any more seconds before he bounded off as fast as he could, closely chased by a dearly pissed princess.

It really didn't take too long for the "race for life and death" to change into a quite normal game of tag though, in which both cubs were pretty dead even, a fact that the male appreciated only too willingly after he just received his little beat-up.

Eventually, Nala and Simba were too exhausted to continue their play and they laid down beside each other at a respectful distance between them, simply gazing at the clouds.

"So," Simba started after they had fully recovered from their little activity, looking at his new friend the best he could from his current position "what's it like to be the only one around with a father?"

"Well, it's nothing really too special... " Nala answered truthfully, still staring at the sky "mostly just another pair of eyes watching every step you take. Plus he tends to scare all the other cubs away."

"I don't think he's that scary…" The golden male claimed, trying to sound as unfazed as he possibly could.

"Oh, really?" Nala asked looking at him suspiciously.

"Yeah. I saw him talking to my mother once and he seemed to be a quite decent fellow." He replied smoothly, but couldn't help to avoid her glances.

"Well, in that case I should introduce you two in the near future." The lioness suggested devilishly and Simba felt how his mouth went all dry in an instant.

"Uhh… y-yeah… that would be… _nice_." He stammered, not sounding too brave anymore.

He knew that Nala smirked widely, but to his relief, she didn't push the matter any further.

"You are the cub that lives with Sarafina, aren't you?" The princess asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yep. She's my mother after all…" Simba replied grinning, making Nala's question sound a bit stupid on purpose.

"Oh… well… I just heard that you… uh… you know… that…"

"That I'm adopted?" The young lion chuckled and his new friend nodded, a bit embarrassed.

"I know that I am. Sarafina, told me very early, but I still consider her as my mom and she's the best for that matter. I love her just like you love yours."

"I see." Nala smiled and Simba could tell that she was pretty impressed with the way he handled the loss of his real parents.

True, it was sad that he wasn't meant to ever meet them and that nobody knew who they were or where they were from, but he wasn't as alone as some people might think he was. Sarafina had always been there for him and she was the best mother he could ever imagine.

"What's it like?" The voice of Nala interrupted his stream of thoughts and Simba blinked his way back into reality.

"Pretty normal, I suppose. Well… that is… if you disregard the fact that my rather exotic coat makes me _way_ more handsome then every lion you'll ever meet will be." He answered slyly and his chest almost swell with pride as he heard Nala's sweet laughter. Making people laugh was always an aim he liked to achieve.

"Oh, that cockiness of yours will never break, will it?" She giggled as she rolled onto her belly and Simba followed her example, grinning deviously as he shook his head.  
"Not a chance."

They chuckled for a few more moments, but the laughter subsided at some point.

"So…" The golden lion stalled for time, thinking about something to avoid an awkward silence "uh… what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Oh, I don't know…" She replied and the corners of her mouth lifted mischievously "probably just relaxing under my new tree… enjoying the wonderful surroundings… what about you?"

"Well, probably going to challenge you for what is rightfully mine!"

"Sounds like a plan…" She spluttered "a rather foolish plan. You should go work on your clumsy technique first!"

"Clumsy?!" He snapped with a wounded pride and flattened ears "And what would _your Majesty_ suggest me to do?"

They both stood up in silent agreement and turned towards Pride Rock, where both of their dens were.

Nala still grinned and suddenly bumped Simba's hip with hers, making him stumble over his own feet.

"You could ask my dad for some advice…" She recommended with a wink.

"Uh… oh… well I-I…" The golden cub stammered "I uhh… will… consider it… thanks."

* * *

Meanwhile, King Mufasa had finished his rounds and was just returning to Pride Rock. It wasn't really hard to tell that he was by far not as cheerful as he used to be during the last few weeks.

He had seen things… terrible things, in his opinion.

"Please, great kings, stand by me…" Was what he had mumbled all the way home.

The lion almost instinctively searched for the source that had brought his soul peace and comfort since his early childhood, the one and only that might put him to ease.

He finally found Sarabi lying outside of their den, enjoying the last of the day's sun rays with closed eyes.

If it wasn't for his huge size, he must have reminded every spectator of a sore little cub, as he lowered himself there next to his mate, loudly audible and without saying aword.

Sarabi only smiled and said nothing either, but settled her head on her love's paws, starting to slowly nuzzle into his soft chest.

"Alright…" She started after a few minutes and lifted her head to softly butt it against Mufasa's, trying to get some of her affection back "what's bothering you, My Dearest?"

At first, the king only grumbled something unintelligible into his lioness's fur, but it didn't take too long until he gave in.

"I saw Nala today… rolling around with another cub." He finally revealed.

"Now, I can't see what's so bad about that, you seemed to scare all of the little lionesses away after all, and Nala was pretty upset about that." She responded, her eyes still closed.

"I saw her rolling around with… _Simba_." Mufasa stated more precisely.

"Oh my…" Sarabi chuckled what made her husband frown even some more "Looks like someone has to rethink his little '_I-will-shred-every-male-who-touches-my-princess'_ principle."

"Don't you think that teasing me is a little inappropriate?" Mufasa freed himself out of the warming embrace, slightly offended, but his mate quickly turned his head back towards her with her paws and gave him a little peck on his lips.

"Sorry…" She smiled "it's just way too amusing how the overprotective father pouts like an infant only because his little girl befriended a male."

"It's far more serious than that!" Mufasa insisted "They may be friends now, but… uhm… you know what usually happens when two hang out for too long! Besides, I betrothed Nala to King Kimoni's cub only one week ago… what's his name again?"

"Jitu." The queen answered and her look went from playful to dead-serious "And you know that I only agreed to that because you promised me to not force Nala into anything she doesn't want to."

He avoided her forceful gaze and sighed, before answering in a quiet voice, "I did and I will keep that promise. I couldn't look at my own reflection if it was my fault that my little sunshine has to spend the rest of her days in grief."

Sarabi looked at her mate for a few more seconds, clearly satisfied with his words.

"Good. Now come here…" She ordered softly as she crawled on top of him, nuzzling him lovingly "your queen needs some affection."

Mufasa complied happily, a little peace settling over his features at last, as he returned her actions.

"They shouldn't grow too close anyways…" He mumbled nonetheless, sending a grin to his wife's face once again.

"I think you _perfectly_ know that the little princesses never fall for the ones they are supposed to fall for…" She replied slyly.  
"Oh, how promising…."

* * *

**That's it! I dearly hope you liked it and I will hurry to bring up another chapter as soon as possible (like I said: No promises for now).**

**Sincerely,**

**kP**

**Random fact of the day: A leopard and a panther are the same kind of animal but with different coat color. (I didn't know that… did you?)**


	3. Chapter 2: Despite the Father's Wrath

**Heeeello again!**

**I thank all of you guys for your reviews! I could have never imagined to be so successful with only two chapters! Really, thanks a lot! :)**

**Yes, I know that it took me quite some time to come up with this chapter, but hey, I have warned you guys before, didn't I? Anyways, let's talk about the story, shall we? **

**It's quite possible that this chapter is a bit less content-related than the last two, but I hope that you'll like it nonetheless. This time, I tried to give some background information and maybe one or two smirks will creep onto some of your faces, who knows ;)? **

**To Milamber: Don't worry, Simba and Nala's love will be anything but easy. I have some things in mind ;). And don't worry about typos as well... English isn't my mother tongue either.**

**Now, enough talk. Enjoy your reading! ;)**

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Despite the Father's Wrath**_

The sun had already started to set for quite some time as Nala sat on top of Pride Rock and watched two silhouettes disappear behind a low hill in the distance.

Somehow, she wanted to make sure that they really were gone from her future lands, but she couldn't tell why. It might have sounded weird, but the two shadows on the horizon, belonging to King Kimoni and his son Jitu, seemed to simply not fit into the Pridelands.

As Nala's eyes slowly wandered to the setting sun, she signed loudly, her thin dark eyebrows curling in annoyance.

"Almost a whole day wasted!" Was what she grumbled and she stood up and turned around to leave, even more irritated by hearing the thing she thought aloud.

She was honest to herself: Yes, she had been really looking forward to today, but that made the disappointment only double in intensity.

Her father had told her that a king and a prince from another pride would visit them, which was pretty awesome compared to the rather monotone life she lived as a cub, and to top it all, she was to be free to spend the whole day as she liked, as long as she took the foreign cub with her. After all, Nala loved to make new friends, so this one condition didn't bother her at all, but what DID bother her, was that the permission to do 'everything she wanted to, soon turned out to be utterly useless.

Prince Jitu had successfully proven himself as the most boring being in the savanna and it almost seemed like he wore his imaginary crown with utmost pride.

He didn't want Nala to show him around, he refused to play tag or anything else that could promise the slightest bit of fun, heck, he didn't even want to go to the waterhole for the whole of the day! But what was definitely was the worst: He didn't want to go explore.

_What kind of cub is he?_, Nala asked to herself, frustrated and incredulous.

Well, it was quite obvious that he was a handsome one with his medium-brown fur and the light golden tuft at the end of his tail that gave away the color of his future mane. Altogether, he would most certainly be a look-alike to his father, but with dark-brown eyes instead of deep-blue ones.

Now, that wasn't the right answer to her question, but on the other hand, how could she even know who Jitu was, if he didn't talk to her at all?

He just sat there where his father had left him, staring off into space for hours and giving the shortest answers to Nala's questions until Mufasa and Kimoni had finally finished their "important talk".

The tan-colored lioness thought that it made no sense why they would rather retreat into the last corner of the den to discuss their matters instead of just laying outside and enjoy the sun, but that was "adults-stuff" and she didn't care at all. The only thing that mattered was that it had ruined HER whole day.

As she trudged off Pride Rock to head for the waterhole, because thanks to the 'future king of boredom', she hadn't been able to get a drink for the whole day.

As she had to pass the little den of Sarafina and Simba, suddenly, an image of the golden cub pinned under paws and with a frustrated frown on his face, popped up in front of her inner eye.

Yes, it was mean to challenge him even though he didn't stand a chance, but _It would probably lighten my mood a bit…_

So it came that the young female stopped in front of the little cave, torn between what was right and what was fun, till suddenly a warm and fairly quiet voice behind her broke her stream of thoughts.

"Oh, hello Princess Nala, what a surprise to meet you here. I thought you were to hang around with the young prince from the Blessed Lands?"

She turned around and hastily answered, "Hello, Miss Sarafina. Uhh… the prince already left… luckily," somehow trying to sound as friendly as possible.

Beside her own mother, Sarafina was probably the loveliest lioness on earth, and because of that, she didn't want to use her as a valve for her anger. Her son … he was an extra story though.

"Doesn't sound like he was too much of a good company, was he?" Sarafina chuckled, and she lowered her head on eye-level with Nala, looking at her with kind blue eyes.

"His company was anything but a 'blessing', and spending time with him was as fun as a hunt during a thunderstorm in the rainy season." Answered Nala and her eyebrows curled once more as she thought about Prince Jitu in annoyance.

"My, my…" the adult lioness smiled and softly bumped Nala's flank with her snout, "look who's getting all poetic when she's grumpy."

Nala felt herself blushing as she grinned and whispered a quiet "thanks," clearly flattered by the small compliment.

Sarafina only winked at her before she slowly moved past her, silently ordering the cub to follow her as she headed towards the small den.

"I believe you're here to pick Simba up, aren't you?" The adult lioness with the bright coat asked, never losing her kind tone.

"Yes… that is… if you don't mind. What's he doing anyways? I hoped he would show up at Pride Rock sometime, but…" Nala trailed off, desperately trying not to think about her ruined day.

"Oh don't worry, honey. I don't mind at all. It won't harm him to get some fresh air in his lungs and some sun rays on his fur. And for what he's doing," she sighed lightly, "probably the same thing he did when I left five hours ago. Sleeping."

"You must be joking!" Nala exclaimed in disbelieve, whereas she blinked repeatedly to adjust her eyesight to the gloomy inside of the cave.

"I wish I was, but look at him yourself. He's fulfilling all the clichés about males already." Sarafina giggled as she pointed towards a small golden bundle in the center of the den.

"Is it even possible to sleep like that?!" Nala asked with wide eyes as she saw in what uncomfortable position her companion was sleeping. It was hard to describe, but he might have looked like a little duck diving for food in a pond with his hips up high and his chest close to the ground. The problem was though, that there was not water but thick, cold stone beneath him and that didn't made him look cute, but like someone had been too lazy to bury the terribly twisted cub after he threw it of a _VERY_ high rock.  
Nonetheless, there _WAS_ light snoring audible indeed and that made both Nala and Sarafina raise an eyebrow in unison.

"I guess so…" Simba's mother stated dryly, shaking her head in disbelief before she walked up to her son and whispered into his ear: "Simba, sweetheart, wake up. You have a visitor."

After no response was given, the lioness started to lick his cheek, causing nothing but making him stir a little bit.

"Hey, come on now. It's not very kind to ignore the Princess of the Pridelands…" she flustered once more and finally, Simba gave her a quiet groan.

"Uhhhhh… what is it mom? I'm not hungry yet…" he mumbled without opening his eyes.

"Hungry?" Sarafina giggled, "My dear, you already had what felt like half a zebra for lunch. I don't think you'll get anything else today."

"What? Then why did you wake me?" The golden lion whined, desperately trying to avoid the wet licks of his mother with as little movement as possible.

"Because Nala is here for you and you're not making a good impression right now." Was what she stated, still grinning.

"Mhmmm… tell her, I said hi…" and with these words he turned his head away, making himself as comfortable as he possibly could in his awkward position.

Sarafina just rolled her eyes in annoyance and gave Nala a 'do-whatever-is-necessary' look before she turned away with another wink leaving the two cubs alone in the den.

An evil smirk crept onto the princess's face as she slowly snuck up to her friend and then nudged him hard enough with her snout to make sure he lost his balance and fell onto his side with a 'thud'.

"You can tell me yourself, you lazy bum!" she snarled at him with a smirk and was clearly satisfied as her action caused even more grumbling and mourning.

"Well, if that's not the _lovely_ Princess Nala," he yawned in a tired tone and cracked one eye open, "to what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

_Pah! That's so him! Not even properly awake and already thinking he has to play the joker!_ Nala thought, but she couldn't deny that somehow, she liked his attitude. As long as he didn't overstep his boundaries, she considered it better to get teased about her title than to be feared for it.

"I'm going to the waterhole and I guess it's safe to say that you would _love_ to join me, you know with you being the 'well-behaved cub' you are!" she exclaimed with her head held high.

Simba sighed loudly and asked: "You're going to use that against me until the end of my days, right?"

"What can I say, you better think before you talk the next time." Was Nala's taunting answer and her friend sighed even louder than before.

"Alright, I'm coming. It's pointless to argue with you anyways." And with that, he rose to his feet, making it look like it was the toughest challenge he had faced today, which, it probably was.

"Exactly. But don't worry, I saw that you had a hard day and because I'm almost as 'well-behaved' as you are, I'm willing to go easy on you, my _poor _fellow." It was really astonishing how much sarcasm fitted into this short sentence.

"Whatever." Simba muttered, but at the outer corner of her eye, the Princess could clearly see how her friend miserably failed to suppress a small smile.

"You know Simba, we all know how much you love to spend time with me. Why are you even trying to cover it up?"

"You're right, Nala…" the young lion replied to her smug question through gritted teeth as they walked outside the cave "I'm so _thrilled_ to spend my precious time with you."  
"See? _That's_ the right spirit!"

Finally outside, the two companions walked over to Sarafina who was lying just a short distance away on a sunny spot.

"Nala, I'm truly impressed," the lioness praised with a wide smile as she nuzzled her grumbling son, "You seem to be really talented in waking my little sleepy-head! I think it would be a good idea if you would come over and wake him every morning."

"Mom! You can't do that to me!" Simba tried his best to give her a sad-puppy look, but Sarafina only winked at him, telling him that he wasn't too successful with that.  
"I think I'll consider it, sweetheart." She chuckled and nosed him away gently, "Now go and have some fun."

Simba maintained his look for a bit longer, but then lowered it as he sighed loudly in defeat.

"Aaalright… I'll try…" he nuzzled his mother good-bye and then walked back to Nala, who politely bid her farewell to the elder lioness, hinting a light bow.

"Brown-noser." He mumbled to her as they left and the Princess did nothing but bumped her hip hardy against his, making him stumble over his own feet and, to top it all, onto his tail which he was dragging along a little bit too close to the ground.

"AH! Good _KINGS_!" he yelped and Nala couldn't help but giggle.

"Aw, If only you were a tad heavier... you would've been able to claim yourself 'the first lion to ever rip his own tail off'."  
"Ha-ha. Very funny. Watch out, I might laugh eventually." Simba replied sarcastically, what unwillingly gave him the opportunity to admire Nala's light-red tongue first-hand.

"So anyways, why did you take all the effort on you? Only to make me join you on your way to get something to drink?" The young lion asked after they finally descended Pride Rock.

"Ohoooo now look whose brain is starting to work! Yes Simba, what could be the reason, huh?" Nala smirked deviously and shot him a taunting glance.

"Hey! What do you mean with th-"

"NALA!" Both cubs froze instantly as they heard this all-too familiar voice booming a short distance behind them.

Nala was the first to turn around and quickly hobble back aside her companion, already smiling the loveliest smile she could actually muster.

"Uhhm… hey daddy!" She greeted cheerfully, trying to ignore the stern look of her father who was standing on a small ridge just beneath Pride Rock.

Simba now turned around as well, his ears flattened and he bowed down low, forcing himself to greet the king with a polite "Hello, your Majesty." To what said person only responded with a cold glare.

"Where are you two going?" He finally asked, sounding definitely not as civil as usual.

"O-only to the waterhole. I already told mom though." Nala replied, now sounding much more careful as at the beginning.

It seemed like the little request she had made a few hours ago had disagreed with him a little bit more than expected. Well, 'request' was maybe not the right way to put it. Shortly after King Kimoni and Jitu had left the den, Nala had literally clung onto her father's leg, begging him to not make her hang out with the Prince ever again.

As she thought about it now, she realized that the corners of Mufasa's mouth had dropped a bit further with every time she had called Jitu 'boring' during her long and detailed description of him, and it's certainly not necessary to tell that she had called him that _LOADS_ of times.

_He has to understand me though… I mean Jitu told his father that his day was 'as usual'! Kings, who's able to live a life like this when days like today are what you call 'usual'?!_ Nala defended her point of view mentally, as she waited for a response of her father.

"Alright," the King growled after some moments of deadly silence, "make sure you're home before the sun sets." And with these words, he turned around and headed up the same path to Pride Rock which Nala and Simba had recently used, whereas the cubs hesitantly resumed their journey to the waterhole without speaking a word at first.

"Your father hates me." Simba suddenly stated with a dry voice and a downcast glance.

"What makes you so sure about that? I think he just had a bad day."

"Are you kidding me? Did you even _SEE_ the glances he shot at me?" Simba exclaimed and Nala looked at him wide eyed, "He was surely thinking about skinning me alive and using my coat as his bedside rug or something!" The Princess could see that her friend was dead-serious, but a smile crept onto her face nonetheless, as he hastily cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure before adding: "That did make me feel slightly uncomfortable though."

It didn't take long till another of her famous 'good ideas' popped up in Nala's head and she did a good job in quickly replacing her smile with a saddened expression, which she amplified even more by hanging her head.

"You know, you don't have to hang out with me if it bothers you so much…" she whispered in her best hurtful voice and she turned her head away, what made her miss Simba rolling his eyes.

"Now _that's_ great! Yeah, don't be shy Nal, just go ahead and make my day even worse. Wonderful!" The young lion who seemed to be fully awake since his encounter with the King of the Pridelands tried to speed up in annoyance, but he didn't get far for that Nala had simply stopped and curled up into a ball, showing him nothing but her back.

"Come on…" Nala was already grinning again by that time. She knew that her plan worked perfectly, despite his poor attempts to stultify her statement with sarcasm. "That's ridiculous! You… _gah_!" He made a helpless move with his paw, before taking a deep breath and mumbling something like 'Ah, screw it'.

"Alright, you have an extremely scary father. So what? That won't make me end our friendship. There you go, that's what you wanted to hear, isn't it? Are you happy now? Can we go?"

Nala instantly jumped to her feet, nothing of her alleged sadness left as she shot him an innocent smile, this time fully aware of the rolling eyes she got as a response.

"Yepp!" The female cub only replied as she contently jogged up to him and together, they resumed their little trip, both secretly hoping that no more unintended delays were to appear.

"You're a mess." Simba chuckled after a short time, getting him a good glimpse of Nala's tongue once again.  
"And what would you call yourself? My better half?" She hissed

"Exactly!"

"Whatever. You were wrong about my father, by the way."

"Say what?" She could tell that he was a bit puzzled by her sudden change of topic.

"He wouldn't make you _his_ bedside rug, he would make you _my_ bedside rug!"

"How reassuring!" Simba spoke ironically, "Everything for daddy's little girl, huh?"

"Exactly!" They shared a little laugh, enjoying the tease how only really good friends could do.

"So, did I miss anything while wasting my time with the precious Prince of the Blessed Lands?" The tan-colored Princess asked, not really expecting all too much. Simba had been sleeping for almost the whole day after all.

"Was it really that bad?" He had raised an eyebrow as if saying 'do you really want me to believe that?'

"Honestly, Simba…" Nala stopped and put a paw on the males shoulder "It's more fun to watch you sleeping." She didn't lie at all, because if Simba always slept the way he did as she woke him up today, it was simply HILARIOUS to watch him, but that he did not had to know.

"That's quite impressive." He chuckled, but his smile faded and he seemed to get a little nervous as the Princess didn't let go of his shoulder and kept her glare up, "What?"  
"You haven't answered my question, silly!"

"Oh… uhh…" his expression changed from worried to thoughtful for a second, then his eyes suddenly widened and he seemed to get quite excited.  
"It actually has! Look what my mom found this morning!" Simba hastily lowered his head, showing his brow to a bewildered Nala.

"Where are you going with this?" She demanded skeptically, squeezing her eyes together in concentration. "Wait…" She trailed off as she came across a barely visible variance in the golden fur in front of her "You… mean these two stupid little red hairs, don't you?"

"These aren't just two _stupid red hairs_!" Simba huffed and pulled away, somehow offended, "These are the _three_ first hairs of my mane! Besides, my mom told me they're _scarlet_!"

"Mane?" Nala spluttered, "That's not even a tuft and you're already talking about a mane? It'll take you more than a year to grow something that you could actually _compare_ to that!"

She still fought against the giggles, but they came nonetheless.

"Funny." The mocked lion spat out sarcastically, "At least I have something to look forward to!"

After Nala had calmed back down, she rounded her pouting companion to look him in his eyes once more "Kings, Simba! I'm sorry, alright? I was just kidding. You'll sure have a nice mane. No need to get sulky!"

Despite her honey-sweet excuse, Simba still looked grumpy, or at least doubtful, so the Princess decided to distract his thoughts a little to regain his trust, or at least that was what she pretended.

"I'm still not sure about the color though, care to show me again?" Nala asked kindly, supposedly interested in his new features and he whipped around to her with a giant grin.

"I tell you they're scarlet! Just like the tuft on my tail!" As the young lioness had suspected, her male companion was way too excited to deny her offer, and she literally grabbed the opportunity and tugged out one of the hairs as he lowered his head once again.

"Ouch!" Simba yelped in shock and as he looked at his friend, he saw her holding a single hair into the sunlight.

"I guess you were right. It's _scarlet_." She stated with a devilish grin, making the golden cub almost boil with anger.

"You… evil witch! YOU TRICKED ME!" He was absolutely enraged and wasted no second to leap at her.

Nala was already one step ahead though, and that is how it came that another 'race for life and death' emerged, this time with Simba in the role of the hunter.

"Don't you ever dare to touch my mane when it's grown!" He yelled, but boy, he had no clue how hard that would be for Nala if the time was up…

* * *

**That's all you get for today! I dearly hope you liked it and I'm impatiently waiting for your feedback! ;)**

**The next chapter COULD take a tad longer, but I think it's going to be a little more extensive than all the ones before!**

**Sincerely,**

**kP**

**Random fact of the day: Polar bears are left-handed.  
**


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